44TH ANNUAL IDFTA CONFERENCE
IDFTA 2001 Winter Orchard Tour
Tuesday, February 20, 2001

Royal J Klein Farms, Sparta
Joe Klein is the second-generation operator of Royal J Klein Farms in Sparta. His father, Royal, is still a driving force in the day-to-day operations of the farm, even at 85 years of age. His son, Joe, is also involved with the farming operations as the third generation to own and run it. They have about 265 acres in fruit tree production, which includes apples and sweet cherries.

This stop will focus on the dwarfed sweet cherry plantings that have been put in the last 3 years. The rootstocks are the Giesla strains numbers 5, 6 and 7's. Joe and his son admit that they are learning which training systems work best for them as they go, but essentially they are working with a central leader system.

They have done extensive work with different systems of debudding and they have tried using Promalin to enhance bud break.

The plantings are at an 8 by 17 foot spacing and they have several varieties planted. In 1998, they planted their first 2 acres of 500 trees.  Varieties included Sams, Heidelfingen, Hudson and Hartland. In 1999 another 2 acres of 500 trees was planted with the varieties of Ulster, Hudson and a few others. In 2000, they added yet another 2 acres of 500 trees of Schmits, Sweethearts and other varieties.

Their plans include making the trees available for a U-pick operation in the 2001 season. They have paid close attention to ground floor management in order to make the planting enjoyable for consumer picking.


Bruce and Joe Rasch Farms, Conklin
Bruce and Joe Rasch are brothers that have been growing apples all their lives through family farming operations. In 1984, they formed their own partnership and began planting the newest varieties on high density training systems. In total, they operate about 600 acres of apples each year.

Over the years IDFTA tours have visited various plantings of Bruce and Joe's and they have yet another new planting system for us to learn from.  We will be visiting their newest planting in which they move away from the double V system they were planting quite regularly. This block is a simple, single row Vertical Ax with 2 wires and bamboo stakes at each tree. The rootstocks are B9 and M9. These brothers are known for their plantings of new apple varieties and this block is no exception. Varieties include Gala, Jonagold, Fugi and Braeburn. The row spacing is 14 feet by 5 feet for a tree density of about 620 trees per acre.

They purchased the land, which had never had apples planted on it before, in 1996. The block was planted in 1997, with a few trees planted in 1999.  There are about 40 acres planted at this site right now.


Phil Brown Welding, Grand Rapids
No farming operation is complete without the help of many other support businesses, such as fertilizer dealers, agri-chemical sales personnel, and equipment dealers and repair personnel. One of the more valuable suppliers of equipment in the West Michigan area (and beyond), is Phil Brown Welding.

Phil started a small welding shop about 35 years ago. His dad was a fruit grower and the items he worked on and built were out of necessity for their family farm. Neighboring fruit producers heard of Phil's talents and brought their business needs to him. As the business grew, he moved it to a small blue pole barn near his home on 8 Mile Road, northwest of Grand Rapids, in the heart of the "Fruit Ridge" growing area. In 1972, his business had outgrown that area and he built an even larger building across the road. This building had been since added on to twice. In Phil's words, "I started building for my dad and then the neighbors, and then it kind of got out of hand." This is how Phil Brown Welding has come to be what it is today.

Many fruit producers in the United States are familiar with Brown Welding products. The Brownie tree trimmers, brush sweepers and box shuttles are some of their better-known products. They also manufacture and build box rotators and bow dumpers in 4 or 5 different versions. The latest equipment developed includes the extended disk mower and the clean sweep spray boom.  In all, Brown Welding has about 35 regular products. Phil is also known for his ability to take a grower's idea and make it into a reality. He calls this his "specialty" product line.

Today, Phil Brown Welding continues to be a family-run business. His wife Dorothy assists him in day-to-day office oversight. His sons Brian and David help on the floor and with product development and repair. His daughter, Melissa is also involved with the company.

Phil has received awards for his accomplishments: The Michigan Apple Pomesters’ Fruit Person of the Year Award and the Michigan State Horticulture Society's Industry Award. The local growers feel that Brown Welding and their expert staff are a true asset to their production.


Kropf Fruit Company, Belding
Kropf Orchards is a 4th generation fruit producing operation. In 2000, the total planted area for the company was about 2000 acres. The blocks we will be visiting include the Hart Farm and the newest planting behind Kropf's new packing plant near Belding. We will also be touring the packing plant and enjoying a catered lunch here.

Lunch includes chicken and ham entrees with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a vegetable; a dessert (made with fruit, of course) will be also served.

The Hart Farm was planted mostly in 1990 and purchased by Kropf's in the mid 1990's. Kropf's have added some new plantings in 1997. Much of the farm is a trellised High Density French Axe system on Bud 9 and M9 rootstocks.  There are some free-standing trees here also.

The planting behind the packing plant have a variety of training systems to view. The basic system is a French Axe with a variety of trellis systems.  The systems include a 2 wire with bamboo system and a 3 wire with bamboo system. There is also a single wire system with one wire.

Kropf's also have a trial planting of a Super Slender Spindle system with a 9-wire trellis. Varieties in both stops include Gingergold, Gala, Jonagold and Golden Delicious.

The Belding Kropf packing plant was built in 1993. It has an automated packing line and can pack several grades and package sizes at one time. The plant also features a large storage facility and a cold storage loading prep area which is important in the packing of export materials.


Klackle Orchards, Greenville
Steve Klackle and his wife Rosemary purchased the 3rd generation fruit farm in 1979. The late Raymond Klackle Sr. purchased this orchard site in Greenville in 1969 from Ore-Ida Foods.

In the year 2000, there were about 330 acres in production. Steve has recently removed 30 acres for total production acreage of 300 acres for the 2001 season.

Here you will be able to see the progression of plantings that were visited during the last summer IDFTA tours in 1996, when they were just planted.  Much of Steve's high density plantings are on a three wire Vertical Axe system with a tree density of 520 trees per acre. He also has some V systems with double rows where the tree density is 1040 trees per acre. The newer apple plantings include varieties such as Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Fugi, Golden Delicious, Jonathan and Gala.

The farm also features a retail farm stand with sales focused in the fall entertainment area. Steve mentioned that the farm is currently in a holding pattern, while the industry sorts itself out.


Tom Rasch and Son Orchards, LLC, , Belding
Tom Rasch is a 4th generation farmer. His father, Tom Rasch Sr. started the orchards where you will be visiting. There are about 170 planted acres of apples on the farm with about 50% of it in high density plantings.

Tom has various training systems that he likes to use. They include: double row free-standing as well as with stakes for support; he also uses a modified Axe system with multi-wire and single wire trellis systems.

The rootstocks Tom has include MARK, M9, M106, and Bud 9. In recent years, Tom has put in a lot of new plantings to keep up with current market demands for new varieties. The varieties he has planted include:  Gingergold, RubyJon, Jonagold and Gala's. Tom also likes to choose the redder strains of newer varieties whenever he can. There is even a variety testing orchard on this farm with 2 to 3 trees of over 80 different varieties. This test orchard also has many different dwarfing rootstocks in it that are being monitored.

Tom's philosophy is to let the tree do its own training if it can. He usually finds that two-thirds to three-quarters of the tree grows into its own training system by the fourth leaf. He feels this can be achieved with the tree's own fruit pulling down limbs and keeping the tree size in check.  After four years or so, he comes through the block and removes the oversized limbs.

Local extension agents consider Tom to be one of the top apple growers in Michigan. He consistently gets annual cropping by paying attention to horticultural details like sunlight penetration, thinning, proper nutrition levels, and irrigation. These are key to him to achieve annual cropping.

Tom is unique in that he has done some extensively preliminary testing of Apogee, a growth regulator. In the year 2000, he had over 7-1/2acres with various treatments of Apogee. We will be able to see some of these trials on the tour. He treated several different varieties with different timings and rates.

Destination & Accomodations
Conference Schedule
Pre-conference Bus Tour
IDFTA 2001 Winter Orchard Tour
Special Tour - Spouses, Companions, Etc.
Registration Form
Banquet Menu

44TH ANNUAL IDFTA CONFERENCE